Without copying any other texts from the Dhammapada, we may next inquire what there is to be found in the Bible that is not to be found in the teaching of Buddha. We notice that the element of so-called prophecy is wholly wanting in the sayings of the Indian sage. I cannot remember that either Sakya Muni or any of his followers assumed the power to foretell the future. There is, it is true, a vague threat of future misery to the wicked, which was founded upon the prevalent idea of metempsychosis; but there is no endeavour to pourtray the occurrences that are supposed to be impending over one or more sections of the human race. There is not any attempt to induce individuals to join themselves to the son of Maya, by declarations that the world, and all that it contains, is about to be destroyed, and that all who do not become disciples of the teacher, and shelter themselves under his mantle, will be miserably punished throughout eternity.
There is not any Buddhist description in detail, either of Hell, or Heaven, or Nirvana; there is no story of "worms," "fires," "devils," "death," and the like, in the first. The second is not depicted, by the preacher himself, as a sort of palace, made gorgeous with gold and precious stones, resounding in barbaric music, and discordant chants, where animals dwell, and where horses are kept stabled, to go throughout the world with messengers upon their backs (see Zechariah i. 8, 10; vi. 2, 7; Rev. iv. 6, 7; vi. 2, 4, 8). There are no denunciations of vengeance upon heretics, nor is the god of Buddha like the one described by Hebrew writers, who "winks" during times of ignorance upon earth (Acts xvii. 30), who requires to be reminded by prayer of the wants of men (Exod. iii. 7), and who comes down to earth to inquire if matters are according to the accounts which have reached his dwelling-place (Gen. xviii. 21).
In Siddartha's teaching there is, as we have seen, an absence of the element of prayer. According to his view, each man is regarded, to a certain extent, as the author of his own destiny. Man, in his opinion, must ever be influenced by the actions of other men—he may, for example either be caressed or tormented, yet, under both circumstances, he is instructed to retain equanimity of mind. He is not to pray for prosperity, nor to supplicate that trials may be removed. He is to face and overcome every trial by his resolute will, and not to waste time in praying not to be led into temptation.
Again, in Buddha's writings, and in those of his followers, there is an absence of those obscene tales with which the Old Testament abounds. We seek in vain for counterparts of the story of Lot and his daughters, of Onan, of Joseph and the wife of Potiphar, of Judah and Tamar, David and Bathsheba, Amnon and his sister, Zimri Cozbi and Phinehas, and the like. It is true, that in some Buddhist writings, there is a cosmogony introduced more preposterous than that in the Bible; but there are no parallels to the tales of Noah, of Moses, and of Israel in Egypt, the desert, and Palestine. Indeed, when we remember that Sakya Muni was an Oriental, accustomed to inflated language, we are struck by the plainness of his speech.
If we now ask ourselves, as earnest practical Christians—that is, as men, anxious and eager to attain to religious truth, and desirous of teaching only those things which would tend towards sound edification and to a pure morality—what parts of the Bible most offend sense of propriety, we should answer, that they are its untenable cosmogony; its preposterous accounts of the longevity of the men reported as being the earliest formed; the legend of the flood; the origin of the rainbow; the tales of Moses, Pharaoh, the plagues of Egypt, the sojourn in the desert, the capture of Canaan, the miraculous battles, in which each man of Israel put a thousand enemies to flight. We would wholly expunge the fabulous account of Elijah and Elisha; the ravings after vengeance uttered by the prophets; the apocryphal episodes described in the books of Jonah and Daniel, every obscene story, and disgusting speech and writing, whether uttered as a threat against Israel or his enemies. In like manner we would wish to expunge, from the teaching of Jesus, everything relating to the immediate destruction of the world—everything connected with community of goods, the advantages of beggary, and the potency of faith and prayer. We would suppress every miracle, and say nothing of a resurrection of the dead Jesus. We would equally abandon any attempt to describe Heaven or Hell, or any intermediate state.
When all these were removed from the Bible, we positively should have very little left, except a certain amount of morality which is sound, and a large portion which is radically bad. To make such an emendated book as perfect as possible, we might, with great advantage, correct it from the teaching of Buddha or from the sayings of Socrates, Plato, Epic-tetus, and even of Confucius; and when all was completed, it would be found that all men, everywhere, have had instinctive notions, more or less definite, of morality, but have allowed their animal passions to overcome their better feelings. Far too many of us know the good, but yet the bad pursue.
This investigation would most distinctly disprove the assertion, that God has selected a very small percentage of His creatures for objects of His care, and those who have charity towards all men would greatly rejoice thereat. Individually we cannot bear to eat, however hungry we may be, whilst we see others near us without food—our pleasure is heightened when we divide our luxuries with others; just so we believe it should be in religion—none should rejoice at the idea that he is one of the few that are to be saved, nor should anyone repine, as Jonah did, when he finds that the tender mercies of God are over all his works.
To simplify the matter as far as possible, I have drawn up the following parallel between Buddhism and Christianity:—
